title: Transplacental transmission of cutaneous Leishmania mexicana strain in BALB/c mice.
abstract: The vertical transmission of leishmaniasis has been reported in species that cause visceral leishmaniasis. However, this condition has scarcely been documented in species that cause cutaneous leishmaniasis. The aim of this study was to determine experimentally whether L. mexicana is transmitted vertically. A control group of BALB/c mice and a group infected with L. mexicana were mated, the gestation was monitored, and females were killed before delivery. Four resorptions (P = 0.023) and eight fetal deaths (P = 0.010) were observed in the infected female group; furthermore, the offspring body weight of the infected group was lower than the body weight of the healthy group (P = 0.009). DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that all placentas and maternal spleens as well as 39 of 110 fetal spleens obtained from the offspring of infected mothers tested positive for Leishmania. In conclusion, L. mexicana is transmitted transplacentally and causes fetal death, resorption, and reduction in offspring body weight.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Infectologia e Inmunologia Perinatal, Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia, Mexico City, Mexico. mavilagarcia@gmail.com
authors.forename: Miroslava
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Avila-García
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mancilla-Ramírez
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Segura-Cervantes
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farfan-Labonne
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Ramírez
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Galindo-Sevilla
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001724:Birth Weight; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000469:parasitology; D005327:Fetal Resorption / Q000469:parasitology; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D007894:Leishmania mexicana / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010920:Placenta / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000469:parasitology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D013154:Spleen / Q000196:embryology / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan